Experiments on rearing of the juveniles of Holothuria scabra Jaeger produced in the hatchery

Abstract

So far there is no information on the farming ofsea cucumbers in India. The seed of Holothuria scabra, a commercially most important species today was produced for the first time in the sea cucumber hatchery at Tuticorin in 1988. Although this species forms a good fishery at several places in the IndoWest Pacific region, there is no repon on the production of seed and farming of this species. The seed produced was grown at Karapad and Valinokkam Bays, in rectangular cages, one tonne tanks, velon screen cages and netlon cages. Due to lintited space and poor exchange of water, the growth in the rectangular cage is poor. The rate of growth of the juveniles was maximum in netlon cages (125 mg/ day) because of good circulation of water from all sides. In the velon screen cage the growth rate was 89 mg/day. In one tonne tank and rectangular cage the rate of growth was 42 mg/dayand 38 mg/day respectively.